Footie Update: Improving Coddling Moth Protection

Surround®, a white, odorless kaolin clay, is used as a deterrent for pests and diseases on fruit trees. Kaolin acts as a physical barrier preventing insects from reaching vulnerable plant tissue. It acts as a repellent by creating an unsuitable surface for feeding or egg-laying. The uniform white film may also disrupt the insect’s host- finding capability by masking the color of the plant tissue. Furthermore, particles of kaolin act as an irritant to the insect. After landing on a treated surface, particles of kaolin break off and attach to the insect’s body triggering an excessive grooming response that distracts the pest. I thought, why not soak nylon footies in Surround® to see if Codling Moths would be repelled. I experimented with Surround® saturated nylon footies on apple fruits. Those apples with Surround® soaked footies were pest free, those with plain footies had codling moth but no apple maggot, those apple fruits with no protection had both codling moth and apple maggot (100%). The Surround protected fruits seemed to be free of earwig damage, unlike the other test fruits. The year before I had experimented with other nylon footie combinations, but I was unable to control the codling moth infestation until I tried the Kaolin treatment.